Interest Connection
by inthelookingglass
Summary: Aspiring musician Grantaire, or 'jamtaire' develops a strong attraction towards a man who goes by 'chickenjolras' on the world wide web. Co written with 'thecoloursoftheworld'.


**So this is co-written with 'thecoloursoftheworld'. I'll be writing the Enjolras chapters, and she'll be writing the Grantaire chapters:)  
**

* * *

****If you told me a few years ago that now, at the age of twenty five, I wouldn't have a job(well, a real job), I'd spend most of my time on my computer and that I barely leave my room I'd have probably slapped you.

When I was a little kid, I'd dreamt of being a politician. I loved the idea of trying to fix things; to end poverty, to bring peace to the world; to make my country great. I may have been a little fanatic, but give me my dues; even at the age of twelve, I thought most of the politicians on the television were pompous arseholes.

My passions for politics and world events hadn't faded, yet those desires diminished when it came to applying to university. I chose to study law, yet a year into the course I knew it wasn't for me and took a year out and never went back.

It was on that year out when I was introduced to something that proved to be possibly the best -or worst- thing that I've ever done. It started when I heard my room-mate Courfeyrac, seemingly talking to himself in his bedroom; a quick peek through the door, and I realise he's actually talking into a camera lens. Confused, he explains that he's making a 'vlog'. Clueless due to my incompetence with using the internet, I use the computer for practically the only purpose I knows how; a search engine. A quick tap of the word, and I just know it's going to be the start of an addiction.

Coming to the youtube homepage, I type in Courfeyrac's name and wait for the computer to load. Up pops Courfeyrac's cheesy little grin, on a video labelled 'Intimate Time With Courfeyrac'. Rolling my eyes-particularly when I realise his username is 'sorryforcourfeyrocking'- I tentatively click on the thumbnail.

"Sup my amigos?" he winks at the camera. "So it's Tuesday, and you know what that means? I'm going to be revealing some intimate, personal, juicy, possibly embarrassing little details about myself for your viewing pleasure!"

"Ah so you've discovered my videos, then?" Courfeyrac appears by my door, and I quickly shut over the laptop. "Come on, there's a tag I've been wanting to do for ages, and Bahorel my youtube buddy is on holiday so I've had to wait... We're filming it now, okay?"

"What... What's a tag?" I squint at him; he can be a little too lively sometimes, and this is just an example.

"I should explain myself, shouldn't I?

"You should."

"So I um... post videos on youtube? I think you've gathered that. I average about one hundred thousand views per video, and the reason I quit my saturday job was because I'm now getting paid to make videos."

"Why didn't you mention it to me?"

"Because you're a dork who wouldn't understand what it means."

"So what actually is a tag?"

"Basically it's like a type of video which lots of youtube personnel make and like... this particular one is the friendship tag, so basically we answer these questions..."

"Fine."

I'm not exactly sure why I decide to go along with it; but it's Courfeyrac, and he always has this strange way of roping me into his silly schemes. We wander back through to his room, where he's set up his camera equipment and boards to sort out the lighting; I'm shocked at how professional it all looks, seeing as 'professional' isn't exactly a word I'd associate with Courfeyrac.

"Sup my amigos?" I watch as Courfeyrac pops his head into the frame. "I have a very special guest today; he literally only discovered what youtube is just _two minutes _ago! You'll have heard about this guy..."

I feel him tug at my arm and pull me towards being in the frame. Courfeyrac dances around me and I shake my head with laughter, as he smiles and makes faces at the camera.

"So I was meant to be doing this friendship tag with Bahorel, but as you all probably know he's buggered off to Spain and left me here, and as you all probably know from twitter, the back up Joly is sick; so I somehow managed to rope my room mate Enjolras into filming this with me. Like I said, this guy is a rookie when it comes to this whole youtube thing, so he doesn't have a channel I can link you to; but I'm sure with some gentle taunting he'll be won over, so comment and tell him that you love him. Enjolras, could you read out the first question please?"

I clutch the piece of paper in my hand, and wave shyly at the camera; I'm not usually shy, but I felt a little awkward.

"How and when did we meet?"

"Well, funny story actually. This dude- I'm telling you- he likes his fried chicken. Like it's just strange because he _never _eats, yet put a bucket of KFC in front of him and he'll wolf it down. So where else would we meet other than a fried chicken restaurant? We ended up being on the same course at university, and well, we just hit it off didn't we?"

The questions continue, and I begin to relax a bit more. I joke about question thirteen- 'heels or flats?'- with Courfeyrac, and just generally enjoy myself. Courfeyrac is as enthusiastic as ever, and as always, he manages to squeeze a bit of personality out of me. When he adds on a question at the end; 'are you going to be making your own account?' I nod with a grin, waving to the camera as he says goodbye.

I wait nervously as Courfeyrac shows me how he edits videos('I'll edit yours until you get the grins with it' he laughs when I look confused), before it finally uploads. I'm surprised at how quickly the "301+" appears, and Courfeyrac shouts me over to read a couple of comments;

_Enjolras is hilarious! Tell that beautiful specimen to make his own videos!_

_Only discovered youtube existed today? Does your friend live under a rock? He's so dorky it's brilliant!_

_I can't; only you Courfeyrac! Tell your blonde friend he HAS to make his own account._

I smile. Courfeyrac laughs at how gushy I am about it; but hey, I like compliments. It's fair to say that I fully devote myself to my new discovery tonight; I sift my way through a good number of Courfeyrac's videos, before also finding Bahorel's account('bahoSWELL') and other seemingly popular 'youtubers'(most notably, 'professionaljoly', 'baldandunlucky' and 'walkingjuxtaposition'.

"I've made your account!" I hear Courfeyrac shouting from his room. "Your username is 'chickenjolras'!

"Why?!"

"It's fun. And you're not to use it to rant about politics, my friend."

And that was it; that was how this all began. A month into starting it, I'm generating a lot of attention. I'm not sure what to think; it's weird for complete strangers to be seeing my face, but unusually endearing. And now, a year or two into being on the site, I'm in the high ranks with Courfeyrac and his friends. That's the funny thing about youtube; everyone seems to break off into little groups of friends who appear in each others videos and comment silly things and have little inside jokes.

I seem to have found my niche here; I can make money from it, and I can devote myself to something I actually enjoy. I like writing the basis for my videos, I like spending most of my time editing and I like the rewards I get from it. My most watched videos seem to be my 'enjolrask me some questions' series, which I really enjoy; I like answering viewers' questions and making that connection through the camera.

"So this question is from jamtaire," I read out one of the questions, balancing my macbook in my hand. "And his question is 'do I drink?'. The answer is no. I'd never even touch the stuff. I just.. I think it's disgusting and I'd rather not destroy my liver, thanks."

At this point, this username doesn't stick in my mind. Little do I know, in the future, it will.


End file.
